Males Only Tank

[BiffMalawi]

I am going to switch one of my 65g african tanks to a planted community tank so I was wondering could I have a 65g tank with just 1 male of several species.

They would be:

Yellow Lab
Pseudotropheus Acei Tanzania
Cynotilipia Afra
Pundamilia nyererei
Aulonocara stuartgranti (mystery species)
Aulonocara stuartgranti (ruby Red)
Julidochromis marlieri

Would this understocking cause problems?

Would it be better to keep my breeding group(1m/4f) of yellow labs with the other males?

 

[kribensis12]

I would not do it personally because males are extremely aggressive, mate or no mate there is going to be lots of fighting.

 

[Ferris]

Hi Biff,

As you probably know, most of my Mbuna tanks have been single specimin all male tanks. It makes for a stunning display tank and it not as difficult to establish and maintain as you might think.

The key is to add all/most fish as juveniles and let them grow up together and avoid species of similar appearance. Of course its not always that simple and you have to be prepared to return fish that become too aggressive.

My 65 gal is relatively understocked by Mbuna standards and i like it that way but your stocking list is a little too small. If you included the group of yellow labs - that should fill it out nicely. I would say go for it but get juveniles if you can and keep an eye on things.

 

[BiffMalawi]

They have all been living pretty much together in two tanks for about 6 months now without too much problem. Most of the aggression has been the result of too many male labs. I'll stick with the group of labs I have in the tank now(took lots of fine tuning) and take out some of the others.

Thanks for the replies.